Everett, Wash.
Published: Tuesday, November 18, 2008

NFL notes: Pacman's status still in limbo

Associated Press

 Suspended Dallas cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones must keep waiting to find out whether he can resume his NFL career. When commissioner Roger Goodell punished Jones last month, he said the suspension would be reviewed after four games -- and the fourth was Sunday. So now the wait is on for Goodell to make a ruling.

"Nothing to report on it," league spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an e-mail Monday.

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said Monday he didn't have any details.

"As far as I'm concerned right now, he's gone," Phillips said. "We're preparing the players I have. ... If it turns out that he does come back and he is ready, I'll prepare that."

Jones' latest violation of the league's personal conduct policy stemmed from an alcohol-related scuffle Oct. 7 with one of his bodyguards at a private party in Dallas.

Jones has been undergoing alcohol rehabilitation. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said he'd welcome back the player if the league will allow it.

Suspended players to appeal

Minnesota Vikings defensive linemen Kevin and Pat Williams will meet with NFL officials to appeal their suspensions after testing positive for a weight-loss diuretic considered a masking agent for steroids.

The NFL will hear the appeals later this week.

Additional appeals will be heard today for three New Orleans Saints: running back Deuce McAllister and defensive ends Charles Grant and Will Smith.

All are subject to four-game suspensions. There is no indication when the NFL's decision will be announced.

Buccaneers

Tampa Bay's Earnest Graham injured his right ankle during a victory over the Minnesota Vikings, and Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden said the running back's season "could be in jeopardy."

Graham was hurt on his only carry in Sunday's 19-13 win, limping off after landing awkwardly when he was tackled after a 3-yard gain.

"His status for the rest of the season is very much in question right now," Gruden said Monday. "I don't have the exact medical terms, but I will say right now, it doesn't look like he'll play any time soon."

Warrick Dunn took over as the featured back when Graham left, finishing with 53 yards on 20 carries to move ahead of Ricky Watters for 19th place on the NFL's career rushing list with 10,657 yards. He also had four receptions for 65 yards against the Vikings.

Graham's injury also figures to accelerate Carnell "Cadillac" Williams' comeback from an injury that kept him from playing since tearing the patellar tendon in his right knee in September 2007. The fourth-year pro was moved from the physically unable to perform list to the 53-man roster last week, but he was inactive Sunday.

"Obviously we brought Cadillac up with the understanding he's ready to go," Gruden said. "We're very disappointed for Earnest. He means a lot to us. He's done so much for us here in the last couple of years. He a key reason why we are where we are."

Graham started 10 games in 2007 and rushed for 898 yards and 10 touchdowns in helping the Bucs win the NFC South.

Rams

Offensive tackle Orlando Pace will be sidelined two to four weeks with a knee injury sustained in Sunday's loss at San Francisco.

Coach Jim Haslett also counted out running back Steven Jackson, who will miss his fourth game in five weeks with a persistent thigh injury. Jackson had a second opinion on the injury, which Haslett said agreed with the Rams' diagnosis as a strain.

Haslett said medical personnel felt it best that Jackson, who did not make the trip for the 49ers game, take more time off. St. Louis hosts Chicago this weekend.

Pace, a seven-time Pro Bowl player, has been dogged by injuries the last three seasons. He was hurt in the first half when 49ers linebacker Takeo Spikes' leg whipped into the knee.

Guard Richie Incognito was to undergo an MRI exam for what the team said was a strained rotator cuff.

Texans

Quarterback Matt Schaub's recovery from a left knee injury will take longer than the two to four weeks initially projected.

Schaub has been out two weeks with an injured medial collateral ligament and coach Gary Kubiak was far more candid Monday about his condition than he has been since the injury. Kubiak said it could be another four weeks.

Kubiak said at one time after the injury he didn't expect Schaub to play for the rest of the season. The Texans have six games left.

"I guess I'm beginning to think and feel more confident that he will play this year," Kubiak said. "But we'll see ... he's made a lot of progress this past week."

Kubiak said Schaub will begin throwing again this week, but his work will be limited.

Schaub had been on crutches since the injury, but got off them last week and was cleared to travel with the team to Indianapolis, where the Texans lost Sunday.

Schaub was injured in a Nov. 2 loss at Minnesota on a pair of below-the-knee hits that got Jared Allen fined $50,000.

Defensive tackles Travis Johnson and Amobi Okoye both have ankle injuries. Okoye has missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain and Johnson was injured Sunday. Guard Chester Pitts has an injured calf and will also be listed as day to day.

Titans

Cornerback Eric King has a broken forearm that likely will need surgery. That doesn't mean his season is over just yet.

Coach Jeff Fisher said King will miss Sunday's game with the Jets (7-3). King was hurt while starting for Nick Harper in the 24-14 win at Jacksonville. The key backup is getting several opinions on the injury before the Titans (10-0) make a decision on him with six games remaining in the regular season.

Fisher said there's a chance King could return this season, so they are going to evaluate the situation over the next couple of days.

Patriots

Bill Belichick is preparing his team for another look at the Dolphins unusual Wildcat offense.

Miami unveiled the tactic in which a running back takes a direct snap from center in its 38-13 win over New England in the teams' third game of the season. The Patriots visit Miami on Sunday and Belichick said Monday that even though the element of surprise is gone, it's still a difficult offense to stop.

Belichick said the Dolphins add new wrinkles to their Wildcat plays each week.

"I don't think it's going to be a surprise when Ronnie Brown lines up behind the center and takes the snap," Belichick said, "but what the rest of the formation will be, what the blocking will be, what they'll do out of it, that's not always the same every week."

Miami won just one game last season but dominated New England on Sept. 21, giving new coach Tony Sparano his first NFL win.

They did it with Brown running for four touchdowns and throwing for another, with four of them coming on direct snaps to him rather than quarterback Chad Pennington.

Both teams are 6-4 and tied for second in the AFC East, one game behind the Jets. A Patriots loss would leave them 0-2 against the Dolphins and at a disadvantage in the first tiebreaker for a playoff spot: head-to-head record.

New England also placed rookie cornerback Terrence Wheatley on injured reserve with a wrist injury, ending his season.

Wheatley was selected in the second round of April's draft. He appeared in six games and was hurt during an 18-15 loss to the Colts on Nov. 2.

The Patriots signed tight end Tyson DeVree from their practice squad to fill Wheatley's spot on the active roster. DeVree, a rookie free agent from Colorado, first signed with the team in May.

Also Monday, the Patriots signed rookie linebacker Darrell Robertson to the practice squad.

Giants

Giants running back Brandon Jacobs was having a precautionary MRI on his knee, although coach Tom Coughlin said he didn't think Jacobs had a serious injury.

Jacobs gained 73 yards on 11 carries in the 30-10 win over Baltimore that raised New York's record to 9-1. He left the game in the second quarter and returned for just two carries in the third as Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw took over. They helped the Giants rush for 207 yards against a team that had been leading the league allowing just 65 yards rushing per game.

"There is a little swelling, he is walking really well," Coughlin said of Jacobs, fourth in the NFL with 879 yards rushing. "They are going to do all of the tests. But hopefully we can get this under control."

Asked which knee it was, Coughlin replied: "If you don't know which one it was, I'm not telling you."

Cornerback Aaron Ross, who had two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, also underwent an MRI on his hamstring. Coughlin said Ross had aggravated an injury he had earlier in the year.

Both Jacobs and Ross said after the game that they could have come back in if needed.

Packers

Linebacker Nick Barnett will have surgery to repair his torn right knee ligament Thursday. Barnett said Sunday he is expected to need six to eight months of recovery time.

Coach Mike McCarthy said WR Donald Driver would likely sit out Wednesday's practice to rest nagging injuries. "He has some things he deals with during the course of the week, but it's nothing where he's missed any practice time," McCarthy said. "That's probably why I'm going to give him a day this week to get back healthy."

Raiders

Confidence is a problem for the entire Raiders offense, which has gone 13 quarters without scoring a touchdown. The Raiders have run 180 offensive plays since Justin Griffith's 2-yard score in the final minute of the third quarter at Baltimore on Oct. 26.

The Raiders have just nine offensive touchdowns -- fewer than the total for five individual players -- and have scored a league-low 128 points.

"I think it's pressing too hard," coach Tom Cable said when asked for an explanation for the struggles. "That happens with athletes, great athletes, all the time. You've got to find that comfort zone where you can stay relaxed and yet play at a high level of intensity."

The problem was amplified at the end of the first half at Miami, when the Raiders moved the ball down to the Miami 5 with help from a 41-yard pass interference penalty and a 27-yard pass to Zach Miller. Justin Fargas ran for 1 yard on first down before tackle Kwame Harris was called for his first false start.

With the ball at the 9, Cable called for a halfback option pass, but Darren McFadden got hit for a 5-yard loss when fullback Luke Lawton got caught up in the line and was unable to run his pattern. Harris got called for another false start on third down, before JaMarcus Russell hit Miller with a 16-yard pass to the 3. That set up a 21-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski, keeping the Raiders at one touchdown in 61 first-half possessions.

"It's all kind of right between our ears right now," Cable said. "Not pressing when we get down there. I thought yesterday was a good example. We're down there, run the ball, down to the (4). Now we're setting there, false start, then run toss play, lose yardage on that, then false start, and we're third-and-goal on the 19. To me that really is a mental issue."

49ers

A day after the 49ers snapped their six-game losing streak, interim coach Mike Singletary didn't see any cause for celebration.

Nobody got the day off after San Francisco improved to 3-7 with a 35-16 win over the Rams. Former coach Mike Nolan was among many NFL leaders who usually gave an extra day of rest to his team after its infrequent victories, calling it a "Win Monday."

Instead, the 49ers reported to their training complex to watch film, lift weights and keep their meager accomplishment in the perspective Singletary felt it deserved.

"When you win a game, you want to come in," Singletary said. "You just won the game before, and you come in and talk about it a little bit more. Bring them in, let them work out. Let them get the lactic acid out and kind of bond a bit. You have Tuesday off, so you can take all of that."

The decision is just one of several subtle ways in which Singletary has altered the 49ers' operation since taking over for Nolan on Oct. 20. Those changes finally paid off with a solid victory, albeit against one of the NFL's worst teams.

The 49ers are alone in second place in the NFC West with their win, but that's also hardly a reason to jump for joy. If San Francisco loses at Dallas and the Arizona Cardinals (7-3) win this weekend, the division race could be over with five weeks to play.

In fact, the 49ers' three victories this season are against Seattle, Detroit and St. Louis, which are a combined 4-26. No wonder Singletary sees ample reason to keep working.

"We want to have a team that is focused," Singletary said. "We want to have a team that can enjoy one another. ... They want to win, and they want to feel good about playing for the 49ers, so I'm just trying to do the things that I feel bring that to pass."
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA